“It’ll come, Kaid.” Kaid turned his attention to Goldy.
“Maybe,” Kaid replied.
“You’re a good male, Kaid. You’ll find yours.” Goldy cranked his bike and drove off in the direction the others had gone. Kaid didn’t voice it, but Goldy was a good male, too, and he’d never found his Mate. Some shifters just didn’t. Kaid sent up a silent prayer that he’d find his One and that it wasn’t too late for Goldy. That he could find his One, too. Then he cranked his bike and followed his clan to Vince's. Whatever was waiting for them there was not going to be fun. He could feel that in his bones.
<> <> <>
The seat beside him was pulled out and somebody dumped their body into it. Bane didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he shifted his barstool a little further to the right and took another swig of his bottle of Cuervo. The barstool to his left shifted closer to him. His brows drew down in aggravation as he turned to snarl at whoever it was that dared to interrupt his pity party. The biggest grin he’d seen on the male in weeks greeted his snarl. “Hi, brother!” the male said as he draped his arm around Bane’s shoulders.
“Mav, get the fuck off me.” Bane turned his attention back to the bottle in his hands.
“Nope, came to keep you company, cause I’m thoughtful like that and shit,” Mav grinned at him again as he leaned forward and over to catch Bane’s eyes.
Bane just shook his head and ignored him. “The last thing I need is you gloating, rubbing salt in the wound, and just making it worse. Please, Mav…” he begged sincerely as his eyes met Maverick’s.
Mav’s grin immediately dropped from his face, “Not here to gloat. Just came to be with you. Been there, it’s a mother-fucker to recover from, but you can recover from it. I’m here. No words, just going to sit here with you. So you know you aren’t alone.”
Bane looked at him for a few moments, then inclined his head once, and went back to his bottle. Vince dropped a beer in front of Mav; they bumped fists and then Vince went on his way.
It was only a few moments longer before Bam took the stool on his right. Bam stood again and engulfed Bane in a bear hug. He didn’t stop ‘til Bane patted him on the back, signaling that it was okay. It really wasn’t, but Bam needed to think it was. “No, I don’t.” Bane jerked his eyes to Bam’s. Bam just looked at him and took a swig of Mav’s beer. How the hell did Bam know what I was thinking, Bane thought. Bam just smiled and turned his attention to Vince and answering the wave that Vince threw his way. By the time that Vince had brought Bam his own beer, Goldy, Kaid, Daniel and Avaleigh had joined them. Avaleigh walked in the door and straight into Bane’s arms. He’d tried to just make it quick, but she was having none of it. She took Bane’s head in both her hands and looked him in the eye, “What happened?” He couldn't answer; he just shook his head, closed his eyes, and tried to hide the tear that he felt escape his lashes. She kissed his eyes and held his head close to her chest to keep anyone else from seeing. But they saw anyway. He just wrapped his arms around her waist and held on. Daniel wrapped his arms around the both of them. His Dragon wanting to roast the female for hurting his brother. But he knew that would only make things worse. So he allowed his Dragon to chuff at Bane instead. Bane looked up at Daniel and offered him a shaky smile. “Is that a good sound? You aren’t going to breathe fire on me, are you?” Bane asked him.
“No,” Avaleigh answered for her Mate, “that’s his ‘I care’ chuff.”
Kaid tried to make them all laugh, “Well, if he wants to burn something, we could get Dragon to roast the house we been building. It’d be one hell of a bonfire. We could cook shit for days over it.”
“Naw, man. Leave the house be. Maybe somebody else will find their One, and they can live in it.”
They spent a couple of hours there, just being near Bane, trying to make it just a little okay for him. He appreciated it, he did. But he’d been ripped open, he was gutted, bleeding, raw. All he wanted to do was to climb in a hole and pull the hole in after him. Apparently, his clan had decided that wasn’t an option.
Goldy, quiet for once, just took his seat and signaled for his own beer. Something still wasn’t right; he could feel it. They’d found Bane, but the feeling in the air was still off. It was almost an anticipation. He was twitchy, couldn’t get comfortable. Didn’t want to sit here and didn’t want to leave either. What the hell is my problem, he wondered to himself. Maybe he just needed to drink some more, he decided. Goldy signaled for Vince to bring him something stronger; then, he sat there nursing his drink, being there for his brother in body, but seriously concerned for himself. Maybe his Lion had lost his shit. He could never remember being so jittery.
Chapter 7
Sadie stood in her little living room and moved the curtain aside. Janie should have been home by now. It was dark out, and she was never this late. She went down the hall and looked around Janie’s room again, searching for anything that would indicate that Janie had come home and gone without her notice. No, nothing was out of place. She just hadn’t been there. The back door slammed, and she hurried into the kitchen, Janie’s name on her lips. “No, I ain't Janie. And where the fuck is my dinner?” Wade snapped at her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t start it yet. I was worried about Janie. She’s not ever this late without calling.”
“Well, it ain’t your concern no more. Get your ass over to the stove and cook my fucking food.”
Oh, this was not good. He was so wasted that he couldn’t even hold his head up straight. He was more than drunk. She didn't know what he was on, but she knew that he was certainly out of his mind at this moment. His eyes were glazed and wild. His face ruddy, flushed with his obviously elevated blood pressure. She had to be sure not to push his buttons, or he would snap.
Sadie went over to the stove, took the heavy, cast-iron skillet that she used for cooking most things, and put it on the burner to heat. “I’ll make you a steak. Do you want anything with it?”
“Do you want anything with it?” he mimicked, voice pitched high. “Yes, I fucking want something with it. I want a shot of whiskey. And hurry the fuck up.”
“Of course, whatever you want.”
“You damn right, it’s whatever I want.”
Sadie went over to the cabinet above the fridge and took out a bottle of his whiskey. She poured a shot for him and quickly went back to the table to serve it to him. She couldn't help the glance to the front window, still hoping that Janie was okay.
He caught her glance and snickered to himself. “You can quit fucking watching the windows. She ain’t out there.”
Sadie just tucked her head and went back to her stove. She took a steak out of the refrigerator and seasoned it. Then when the skillet was good and hot, she placed the steak into it and let it sizzle as it browned on one side.
“Stupid little bitch. Deserved what she got. Always meddling in my business. Everything was fine ‘til her worthless little ass started stepping in where she didn’t belong.”
Thinking he was referring to the beating he gave Janie a couple of days ago, Sadie just bit her tongue trying to keep from telling him that she was their daughter. How could he not care for his own daughter. But she knew it would only get her more bruises, so she bit her tongue harder and turned the steak.
“You can just quit looking at the damn windows. She ain't fucking coming,” he told her chuckling to himself. “Wish I was a fly on the wall, I’d love to see her get what she deserves. He’s going to show her her place. Teach her what it means to respect a man. Take her proud ass down a few pegs, make her fucking beg, like a woman should beg.”
Sadie froze as she stood over the stove, “What do you mean? Who is going to teach her? What have you done?” she barely managed to whisper to him, her voice hoarse with fear.
He cackled like a hyena, “I sold her fucking ass! Had to do it quick before she gave it away to that asshole she took a liking to. I owed some money, gave her to him instead. He’s going to break her in, make sure she knows her pl
ace, then likely going to make her earn him some more money.” He laughed, nodding his head. Knocking his knuckles on the table in approval of his own statement.
Sadie’s heart dropped. Her adrenalin was pumping, her fear off the charts. Her baby, this sonofabitch had sold her baby. She had to get more information; she had to try to figure out where to find Janie. “Who did you trade her to, Wade?”
He laughed some more, “Ricky, I sold her to Ricky down there by the laundromat. He’s gonna hurt her real good. She’ll be a good little whore. And you’ll do what the fuck I say, or I’ll sell you to him, too,” he shouted.
The smile on Sadie’s face would have frightened Satan, himself, had he seen it. She was calm now. Collected. Cool. The adrenalin had flooded her system and dissipated. She slipped the pot holder around the hot handle of the sizzling cast-iron skillet, where the steak still cooked. She lifted it from the stove, walked over to where her husband sat with his back to her, still running his mouth. She turned the skillet sideways, so the steak slipped onto the floor. She lifted the skillet above her head and brought it down with all her might. And she calmly proceeded to bash his head in. His body flew to the right and landed on the floor on top of the steak that she’d cooked. She stood there for another second before she leaned over and brought the skillet down on his head again with all her strength. And again. And again. The only reason she stopped was because she realized that she had to save her daughter, and bashing in the skull of the man lying in her kitchen was not helping her save her daughter. She dropped the skillet on what was left of his face, gathered her coat and her purse, and left through the back door. But not before kicking his lifeless body once more for good measure on her way past it. “You can abuse me all you want, but you do not in any way mess with my daughter!” she told his lifeless body as she quietly closed the door behind herself.
<> <> <>
Riley stood in the living room, his mouth hanging open, listening to Ricky tell him that they might have given his new woman too much chloroform cause she wasn’t waking up. “Are you out of your fucking mind? You chloroformed her; then, you chloroformed her again?”
“Yes, I did. She was waking up, and I didn’t need her making a damn scene before we got her back here, so we pulled over and did it again. Now she ain’t waking up at all.”
Riley ran his hands through his hair, wondering how he kept getting himself into shit situations like this.
“I told Frank to go check on her, but she was still sleeping. Frank!” Ricky yelled to him, “Go check on my woman again!” Frank came jogging into the room, an all-too-pleased-to-comply look on his face. “You got it, boss.” “No, I’ll do it,” Riley told them both. He didn’t want Frank in there with an unconscious woman. Frank scowled at him, but Ricky smiled at him, seemingly happy that Riley was finally on board with what he wanted done, “Good, glad to see you coming around, Riley, my man.” Riley just walked away from them both and headed toward the room that the woman was sleeping in.
Janie lay in the dark room, trying to get her senses about her. She could hear people talking in the next room. Mostly men, but she particularly heard one yell for somebody named Frank to check on somebody’s woman. She figured they were talking about her, so she immediately pretended she was still sleeping. The door to the room she was in was eased open, and somebody entered the room. He approached where she’d been dropped on the floor and knelt over her. “Good, you’re awake.” She didn't answer him. Maybe he’d think she was still sleeping and go away. “I know you are awake, female. It’s not a bad idea to pretend you are sleeping though. They are probably going to hurt you if they know you’re awake.” She opened her eyes and looked at the man. He lifted his finger in front of his lips and shushed her. She just looked at him. “Stay still, stay quiet. Let me try to figure out how to get you out of here. I’m Riley. What’s your name, Honey?”
“Janie,” she whispered, “Why would you help me?”
“Nobody deserves this. Just try to stay quiet and give me a little time to figure out what to do. Okay?”
She nodded at him. He nodded back and left the room, quietly closing the door behind himself.
She heard his voice, “She’s still asleep. Think she’s okay, but we won’t know for sure until she wakes up. I think Frank made her inhale too much of that shit. You want your woman later, keep him the fuck away from her now. I’m not sure he hasn’t already touched her.”
Ricky yelled for Frank again, “You touch my fucking woman?”
“No, Sir, I just had to move her around in case she throws up or something and happened to touch her a little then, but I ain’t fucked her.”
“Stay the fuck away from her, I get that the first time, not your sorry ass! Riley, you guard her. Nobody gets a taste ‘til I’m finished with it. Got it.”
“Got it. I’ll keep everybody away.”
Janie wasn’t sure if Riley guarding her was a good thing or not, but at the moment it was the only hope she had. She prayed that somebody, anybody would notice her missing. Then she thought of Bane, and the tears started falling again. Silently this time, though. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she did her best to wipe them on her own shoulders and the carpet where she lay. She couldn't give any indication that she was awake if they came back in. Tears would certainly give her away. She laid her head back down and prayed that this Riley guy, whoever he was, would be able to keep her safe, at least for a little while.
Chapter 8
The door to Vince’s swung open and then closed as the woman made her way into the bar. Goldy spun on his barstool and gave her his attention the moment she entered the room. She was obviously out of place here. Her brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun. She had streaks of grey through it, but it was very flattering to her. Her big blue eyes screamed years of sadness. And she was the most beautiful thing Goldy had ever seen. She was wearing a woolen coat. It was old, tan, and long and fell to about her knees. She was wearing pants and house slippers. She looked around the bar, her eyes searching for someone, lighting on each male she saw, hoping for some type of response or recognition. Which, he wasn’t sure. She seemed to realize that she was making a futile effort and started wringing her hands. Her blood-covered hands. As Goldy sprung from his seat to go to her, the others began paying attention. “Ma’am, can I help you with something? Are you okay?” he asked her. She turned her attention to the red-haired, bearded giant that had suddenly appeared in front of her and immediately dropped her eyes to the floor, a sign of submission. He fucking hated that she felt she had to submit. “I’m looking for a man named Bane. Bane Marchande’. Do you know him?”
Goldy wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that she was looking for Bane, but he was glad that he could help her. “Yeah, I do. He’s my brother.”
Her eyes jumped up to his, and hers started to fill with tears. “Can I speak to him, please? Is he here?”
“Yes, of course, come on, he’s over here.” Goldy held out his arm to guide her to Bane and froze when she startled and jumped back out of his reach. Somebody had beaten this woman. There was no other explanation for her behavior when he lifted his arm. He was going to kill a mother-fucker this night. Somebody had hurt his mate. “It’s okay, Ma’am. Nobody’s going to hurt you anymore.”
She smiled at him, a kind of faraway look in her eyes, “I know. I took care of that.”
He looked down at her hands, then up to meet her eyes again, deciding not to make a big deal of anything, so she wouldn't get spooked and run. He ignored the blood on her hands. “Okay, can you tell me your name? So I can introduce you to Bane?”
She was spaced out, likely in shock from whatever had happened; he needed to step lightly here. Lightly was not a normal thing for Goldy. More like a bull in a china shop was his M.O., but he had to at least try. Maybe she would see that he was trying even if he wasn’t successful.
Her attention shifted back to him, “Sadie. My name is Sadie.”
“Hi, Sadie. I’m Goldy. Ever
ything is going to be okay now. Let’s go over here, and I’ll introduce you to Bane.”
Sadie nodded at him and allowed him to guide her over to a large man sitting with his back to them. All of the people on both sides of him were watching Goldy speak to her, but the large man just kept his head down, his back to them. As they approached the group, Goldy said to them, “Guys, this is Sadie. She came here looking for Bane.” Bane snarled and didn’t look up, but he did say, “I’m not interested, Goldy. This is not the fucking time for this. I do not want a fucking woman.”
Goldy got all up in Bane’s face, spinning him around on the barstool he was sitting on, “Do. Not. Disrespect. Her!” he shouted. “She ain’t that kind of woman. She has a reason to look for you, and it’s not to fuck you.” Everybody had their mouths hanging open. Except for Bam, who was smiling at Sadie. He leaned over from where he sat next to Bane and stuck his hand out past Goldy. “Hi, Sadie, I’m Bam. I’m Bane’s real brother. And I’m Goldy’s brother too, but not a real one. Just a bond one.” Sadie started to take his hand to shake and realized when she looked at his hand to place hers in it that hers were covered with blood. She put her hand back down at her side and smiled at Bam. “It’s nice to meet you, Bam. My hands are dirty, so please forgive me for not shaking your hand.” Bam gave her a huge smile, “No problem.”
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